1.0 Farad Digital Power Cap?....Need info

[Mopard]

Has anyone purchased the VR3 Virtual Reality Sound Labs 1.0 Farad Digital power capacitor? If so how did it work and how would you recommend it? Need info I am planning on purchasing it. The price is good

[riquiscott]

Originally posted by Mopard
Has anyone purchased the VR3 Virtual Reality Sound Labs 1.0 Farad Digital power capacitor? If so how did it work and how would you recommend it? Need info I am planning on purchasing it. The price is good

It's just a 1-Farad capacitor with a digital voltmeter built into it. It will work the same as any other 1-Farad cap out there. Rockford-Fosgate doesn't manufacture the capacitor - they just put their name on it.

What are you wanting the capacitor to do for your system? There are a lot of misconceptions out there, like it will make your system louder, or "hit harder". A capacitor also won't make up for an undersized alternator or tired battery. The only real useful application for a capacitor is if you're getting dimming or flickering in your dash lighting or headlamps. If your battery is discharging because of the load from your stereo, a cap won't solve that problem.

Scott Gardner

[Mopard]

I just want it to help out the battery a little.
The lights seem to be either dimming or the filaments in the bulbs are shacking.
I have a 1000 carnking amp battery that is new which is a Die hard.
I also have a high out put new alt. I was just wondering if it made a difference that it was cheaoer than the others on the market especialy that it is not a brand name product. After all I did see it at Wal mart

Another thing is, in the near future I will be adding underdrive pulleys to the car which will lower the output of the alt.
The alt. is putting out around 14.56 volts, which should be lower when the new pulleys are added.

[wiesshund]

Unless your using a generator, alternator voltage wont change with underdrive pulleys.
Unless your going to some bizzarre pulley size that wont charge the battery anyways
Thats the beauty of a modern alternator.

All a capacitor will do is help with occasional voltage drops
like lights dimming on big bass thumps.
They wont boost voltage up on a constant basis.

how many amps does your system draw?
If the alternator doesnt put out what the car needs. PLUS what the stereo needs, then you have a problem.

Custom alternator, a dynamo, separate battery for stereo , on an isolator, are a few options.

Please tell me your not drawing 80 amps for the stereo through your wiring harness

[DANS66DART]

"Unless your using a generator, alternator voltage wont change with underdrive pulleys" - Um, yes it will. If you go to a bigger alternator pulley, the alt will turn slower, which means the alt will not produce the voltage it needs, especially at idle. Off idle, once you're running down the road, then everything is okay because you're keeping the revolutions up enough.

Otherwise, you're correct. A cap won't give "bigger" bass, it'll just shore up your system against massive voltage drops. However, if you add a second battery, that would do more to helping your voltage woes out than a cap would. Just make sure you get 2 new batteries (new cranking battery, and backup) from the same store at the same time, and they're installed at the same time. I know you said you just bought a new DieHard, but to your alternator, if you add a second battery, it's a "used" battery and will cause mucho problems charging.

Dan

[wiesshund]

one of the reasons for using an alternator is, it isnt speed sensitive to the extent that a generator is.

unless he is using some bizzare hand made pulley he should not have a voltage problem.

But of course if he is using a 35 amp alt and drawing 100 amps
it wont matter how fast or slow its spinning.

I still get 14.5 volts on under driver pulley's

[DANS66DART]

14.5V at idle? With an underdrive pulley? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're not getting 14.5V, but in my experience, both with an underdrive pulley set on my vehicle, and underdrive sets on friends' vehicles, to a man, they all had lower-than-normal voltages at idle. To the best of my knowledge, all underdrive set manufacturers include a new charging speed warning. Although, if all you have on is an underdrive crank pulley, then, yes, the alt won't be affected. But if the alt pulley changes, then the output at idle will, too.

Dan

[Mopard]

Originally posted by wiesshund
Unless your using a generator, alternator voltage wont change with underdrive pulleys.
Unless your going to some bizzarre pulley size that wont charge the battery anyways
Thats the beauty of a modern alternator.

All a capacitor will do is help with occasional voltage drops
like lights dimming on big bass thumps.
They wont boost voltage up on a constant basis.

how many amps does your system draw?
If the alternator doesnt put out what the car needs. PLUS what the stereo needs, then you have a problem.

Custom alternator, a dynamo, separate battery for stereo , on an isolator, are a few options.

Please tell me your not drawing 80 amps for the stereo through your wiring harness

I am not sure how many amps it is. I should know that.

[Mopard]

Originally posted by DANS66DART
"Unless your using a generator, alternator voltage wont change with underdrive pulleys" - Um, yes it will. If you go to a bigger alternator pulley, the alt will turn slower, which means the alt will not produce the voltage it needs, especially at idle. Off idle, once you're running down the road, then everything is okay because you're keeping the revolutions up enough.

Otherwise, you're correct. A cap won't give "bigger" bass, it'll just shore up your system against massive voltage drops. However, if you add a second battery, that would do more to helping your voltage woes out than a cap would. Just make sure you get 2 new batteries (new cranking battery, and backup) from the same store at the same time, and they're installed at the same time. I know you said you just bought a new DieHard, but to your alternator, if you add a second battery, it's a "used" battery and will cause mucho problems charging.

Dan

The only pulley I will be getting in the kit is the main crank pulley. I wish I could also get a smaller ALT. pulley the help out the output. I have also installed a new higher output ALT. a few months ago.

[Mopard]

Originally posted by wiesshund
one of the reasons for using an alternator is, it isnt speed sensitive to the extent that a generator is.

unless he is using some bizzare hand made pulley he should not have a voltage problem.

But of course if he is using a 35 amp alt and drawing 100 amps
it wont matter how fast or slow its spinning.

I still get 14.5 volts on under driver pulley's

If I can remember corectly it is a 120amp ALT.

[Mopard]

Originally posted by DANS66DART
Although, if all you have on is an underdrive crank pulley, then, yes, the alt won't be affected. But if the alt pulley changes, then the output at idle will, too.

Dan

Would,nt it speed up the spinning of the ALT. or would'nt it slow it down? By changeing only the crank pulley.?

[wiesshund]

making crank pulley smaller makes the accessories turn slower
BUT it makes them turn easier

kinda like in 1st gear on a 10 speed bicycle
you go slower but easy to pedal

but unless you do something like underdrive the crank, and then underdrive the acessories as well to the point none of them are spinning past thier initial threshold point you will still put out enough.

which bulbs are dimming?
It is possible you are shaking the filiments

120amp alt should be ok
100amp battery seems tiny though, most batteries are around 600 to 650 cold cranking amps
you sure you didnt mean 1000 amps?

also how are you getting power?
your high load accessories like large amps, should be wired directly to the battery with heavy guage wiring, if your drawing current through the vehicles harness for them, the harness isnt designed for that kind of load.

[Mopard]

The interior bulbs are the ones that are dimming now.
I had thought that it may be the filiments shacking.
I have not checked the outside lights lately.

The battery is a Diehard Gold series. the top of the line Diehard battery. It is 1000 cranking amps, and something like 900 to 950 cold cranking amps.

All power is coming directly from the POS. terminal of the Bat. The problem is it is only 8 gauge power wires with 8 gauge ground wire to the amps, and 8 gauge power wire from the Bat. to the head unit. But the head unit does have the small factory ground wire

[wiesshund]

the head unit shouldnt be drawing more than 5 amps i think

[riquiscott]

Wiesshund's right, 8-gauge for a head unit is overkill, especially if you're using external amplifiers instead of the built-in amp. 8-gauge for the amps may or may not be enough - it depends on how much current the amps draw.

Scott Gardner

[locospl]

hey man you can find you amperage that your amp is pulling by looking on the back/ on the spec sheet/ or on the box. or if you tell me what you are using i can help alot. 8 gauge to head unit. overkill waste of time. you amp power wire should be no less than 4 gauge. a cap opposes a change in voltage. so if you have a voltage spike you cap will compensate. a cap is very fast acting. so it will help alot. not for just the occasional spike. your cap will charge to 99.8% of your alt output. if you need help on wireing hit me up.

[Mopard]

Originally posted by wiesshund
the head unit shouldnt be drawing more than 5 amps i think

I am not sure how much the head unit draws, but it did request that it be grounded directly to the battery POS. terminal.

[Mopard]

Originally posted by riquiscott
Wiesshund's right, 8-gauge for a head unit is overkill, especially if you're using external amplifiers instead of the built-in amp. 8-gauge for the amps may or may not be enough - it depends on how much current the amps draw.

Scott Gardner

I am also useing the built in amp to run a set of tweeters. Is the overkill a bad thing?

[Mopard]

Originally posted by locospl
hey man you can find you amperage that your amp is pulling by looking on the back/ on the spec sheet/ or on the box. or if you tell me what you are using i can help alot. 8 gauge to head unit. overkill waste of time. you amp power wire should be no less than 4 gauge. a cap opposes a change in voltage. so if you have a voltage spike you cap will compensate. a cap is very fast acting. so it will help alot. not for just the occasional spike. your cap will charge to 99.8% of your alt output. if you need help on wireing hit me up.

I will check to amperage of the amps to see what they are and get back to you. If I can find the box or the sheet,............ well, the sheet is in the box.

[wiesshund]

Tweeters dont draw or require high power.

Im not a car audio expert, but im a performing musician for a living.

In concert audio, at 100 watt tweeter is loud, and i do mean loud
like ear damaging, its also huge and heavy.

Now a 100 watt sub woofer is useless, low end requires heavy duty power to move mass quantities of air.

Our dumps (kick boxes in car audio terms) are 1200 watts each
and contain 2 scorpion 18inch subs
we use 4 of them in pairs, each pair at 2 Ohms powered by a bridged mackie 3500 watt power head.

Our mains have 100 watt horn tweeters in them
2 x 10" 400 watt mids
2 x 15" 600 watt lows
there are 4 for each side

2 active stereo cross overs
2 mackie 3500's @ 100% output for the 15's
2 mackie 3500's @ 75% output for the mids
and only 1 mackie 1400 at about 50% output for all the tweeters
This is way lound enough for the average concert venue, and the tweeters are only running at about 80% capacity max.

ANyways what im showing you here is that the tweeters require very low power compared to the lower frequency drivers.
Also they can not draw power from your head unit that it doesnt have, so they arent sucking up a ton of juice.
A car tweeter probably only runs 20 watts or less.

I cant comment on the numbers (watt wise) they stamp on car audio equipment, professional sound equip is rated very strictly by RMS.
A lot of car audio seems to be rated in some strange fashion
because ive seen supposed 6000 watt car amps that would fit in my glove box.
A 3500 watt PA amp wieghs over 60 pounds, draws 65 amps at 2 ohms 80% load, and is about the size of a mid tower computer.